Sleeping Demon
by foxhound40504
Summary: Within Fairy Tail there is a young enigma known simply as Toma to his peers. No one knows who he really is, where he came from, nor the true extent of his powers. What they do know, is that he's always sleeping in the guild hall and refuses to open up or join in the festivities. With the entrance of their newest member Lucy will the guild finally learn more about this enigma?
1. Sleeping Fairy

Hey guys got a new story for you! This was selected via profile poll and the results are in. I'm starting the story Naruto the Sleeping Demon. Anyways before we begin let me clear up some things first. Naruto is the center of attention in this story and does not always follow Team Natsu on their adventures. Now, that being said within the guild he will probably interact with Lucy the most the reason being in the description.

* * *

TOMA

Lucy stared in awe at the building in front of her. "Fairy Tail…" she muttered in adoration "I'm really here." She muttered before her companion a pink haired male named Natsu Dragneel kicked open the doors.

"I'M BACK!" he shouted amongst the drinking/talking mages.

"Hey Natsu!" a buck toothed male called back waving his hand. "How'd your search go?"

"YOU GAVE ME BAD INFORMATION!" Natsu shouted kicking the man in the face. "IGNEEL WASN'T THERE!"

"Hey punk, I just said that someone calling themselves Salamander was there!" the man retorted punching Natsu and knocking him into a black haired boy who growled at the intrusion. "Move it flame breath!" he shouted kicking Natsu in the stomach.

"Make me stripper!" Natsu growled back as he punched the other teen in the mouth. The entire thing quickly spiraled into massive brawl as Lucy stared in shock. "This is Fairy Tail?" she asked nervously as a friendly voice greeted her.

"Hi are you new here?" a white haired girl asked politely.

"Oh my god it's Mirajane!" Lucy shouted happily "I love your pictures in sorcerer's weekly! My name is Lucy; I came to join the guild today!"

"Oh my thank you" Mirajane stated flattered by the praise. However, a beer mug struck Mirajane on the head flooring her.

"Mirajane!" Lucy shouted in horror.

"Oh it's alright, this happens all the time." Mirajane stated getting up as some blood dripped down her forehead.

"HEY THAT'S NOT FAIR! DON'T PUSH ME INTO TOMA!" Natsu shouted as everyone turned towards the noise to see the black haired teen and a large burly teen with white hair shoving the pink haired fire mage towards a sleeping blonde.

"Wait is that guy sleeping?" Lucy asked in disbelief. "How is he sleeping through all this?"

"Oh him?" Mirajane muttered worriedly "That's Toma, nothing can wake him up short of physical contact." She explained "The only problem is…"

"Natsu, how many times have I told you not to wake me up?" a somewhat deep voice asked as Natsu was thrown across the guild knocking several people over. Toma was standing up his fist clenched and his eyes bloodshot. Lucy noticed quickly that there were three lines on each side of Toma's cheeks.

"He gets rather upset if someone wakes him up." Mirajane finished as Toma turned on the laughing forms of the other two teens. "Alright, which one of you two made him do it?" he asked eyes narrowed.

Quickly shutting their mouths they each pointed at the other. "It was Elfman/Gray." They both shouted simultaneously.

"Fair enough." Toma muttered before decking both of them. "Hm?" he muttered noticing Lucy. "New member huh?" he asked walking over to the bar and taking a seat. "Give me my usual Mira." He requested "Since I'm awake now anyways."

"Right." Mirajane nodded as she gathered up some tea leaves and made him a cup of tea. "Toma, meet Lucy she's going to be joining us today."

"Hi, I'm Lucy." She introduced herself. "Uh, Toma, why were you sleeping in the guild hall?" she asked nervously. "Wouldn't it be better to go home to sleep?"

Toma simply glanced at her tiredly. "It's hard to sleep at home." He stated simply. "Easier here."

That being said he accepted the cup of tea Mirajane had prepared for him and began to drink it. "What do you mean it's hard to sleep at home?" she asked curiously as she asked for some water.

"Difficult to sleep." He stated in between sips. "Much more comfortable here." He stated again.

Sighing Lucy realized she wouldn't be getting any answers from the tired male as he drank his tea. "Don't fret, no one knows much about him." A new voice stated startling the young blonde girl. Turning around she saw a diminutive old man wearing what looked like a jester's cap. "Hi, name's Makarov, I'm the guild master here."

"Oh, Master back early this week?" Mirajane asked handing the man a beer.

"Ah you know what the council's like." He stated waving it off. "Alright brats listen up!" he shouted jumping up to the second floor only to bang his head on the banister before pulling himself up. "I just got back from the council meeting and they gave me all these complaints about you!" he shouted as he started listing things off. "Cana you billed the purchase of twenty-three caskets of ale to the council!"

"Tch they noticed." An auburn haired girl wearing a swimsuit top with long pants muttered in an annoyed fashion as she took a swig of her alcohol.

"Loki you strung out the client's daughter!"

An orange haired man wearing sunglasses smiled dazzlingly "I couldn't help myself."

"Elfman, you punched the client after the job was over!"

"He said that being a man meant studying and solving things with words." The big teen muttered poking his fingers together.

"Gray, you were fine up until you started walking around the town naked!"

"I swear my clothes were on when I confirmed the job completion." Gray muttered as he idly began stripping again.

Laughing uproariously Natsu pointed at each of them. "Man you guys suck!" he shouted before falling over in laughter.

"Natsu, not only did you catch those rogues, but you destroyed a national monument, leveled a small town, and destroyed half of the port of Hargeon!" Natsu promptly shut his mouth and sulked.

Toma shook his head and sighed. "What about me Master?" he asked simply curious about any complaints he may have received.

"You gave five clients heart attacks when you used your magic in front of them." Makarov stated staring at the blonde. "This is why I keep telling you not to use your magic in front of the clients!"

"They asked me to." Toma muttered in self defense. "Not my fault…"

"What type of magic do you use Toma?" Lucy asked curiously. "I mean it isn't dangerous or something is it?"

Glancing at Makarov Toma shrugged his shoulders as the master nodded his head. "Well it's a rather unique magic." He began as his hands formed a cross in front of his chest. "I call it **Clone** magic." He stated as three clones of him appeared around Lucy

"Eh there are four of you?" she muttered in surprise as she looked around. "Are they real?" she asked reaching out to touch one.

"Oh we are very real." The clones stated as they each placed a hand on her. One hand on each shoulder as the one she was reaching for grabbed her hand and proceeded to kiss it. "Do you believe?" they asked in unison.

Nodding her head Lucy looked around again. "Wait…why would this cause the clients to have a heart attack?" she asked; her confusion evident on her face.

"He usually creates them armed." Cana explained as she took another drink. "Once you see him go on a mission you'll understand."

Toma smiled ruefully. "I'm not that bad." He stated causing a few of the older members to roll their eyes.

"Toma, when you're on a mission you go out with like ten different weapons strapped on." Gray pointed out.

"It never hurts to be prepared." Toma responded. "What if something happened and I needed those weapons?"

Again the others rolled their eyes. "I've seen you lift an entire tree above your head with one hand." Elfman stated causing Lucy to sweat drop as she regarded Toma carefully.

"Could it be that Toma is the craziest one here?" she asked Mirajane in a hushed whisper.

"Not crazy per se." Mirajane replied as she smiled at them all. "However it's because of his habits that we call him Toma." She explained further confusing Lucy.

"Huh?"

Makarov stepped in to continue the explanation. "None of us know Toma's real name." he stated causing everyone in the guild hall to nod their heads. Eyes widening Lucy stared at them all as Toma folded his arms.

"How's that possible?" She shouted looking around again. "How long has he been here?"

"Three years." Makarov stated in response as he looked at her seriously. "We've deduced that it was a sort of curse." He continued before Lucy could respond. "A curse that prevents him from speaking, writing, or even signaling his name to anyone. As a result it wasn't until he went on a few missions and we got the feedback did we come up with something to call him. Toma is actually an acronym for his title." Lucy's eyes widened even further. "Toma stands for The One Man Army."

"I've heard that title before." She muttered in shock. "A mage with the ability to fight on equal grounds with entire armies at a time. A mage who has never lost a fight and a mage whom no one knows anything about."

"That would be me." Toma stated interrupting her thought process. "However, that is only half true, there are many people who know a lot about me, and I've lost my fair share of fights before joining Fairy Tail." He explained. "Master shouldn't we ditch this serious stuff?" he asked with a small smile.

"TOMA'S RIGHT SCREW THE COUNCIL AND LIVE HOW YOU FEEL IS RIGHT THAT'S WHAT BEING A FAIRY TAIL MAGE IS ALL ABOUT!" the master shouted burning the complaints as Natsu jumped up and ate the flaming paper in one gulp.

Once the party was in full swing and Lucy had gotten her guild tattoo Toma excused himself from the party and headed to his home wishing Lucy and the others well before he left.

"You're late." A regal voice accused him as he stepped into his home in the forest.

"There was a party to celebrate a new member." He explained as he slipped his shoes off and greeted the speaker face to face. She was for lack of a better word otherworldly as she stared at him impassively. She looked almost elfish, were it not for the fact that her feet were not touching the ground and her hair was actually floating behind her giving off an ethereal glow.

"This new member, what is their name?" she asked as she floated further into the home.

"Lucy Heartfillia." Toma stated even though he hadn't heard her last name. "No doubt in my mind."

The beauty paused a few seconds before speaking. "Her mother, Layla Heartfillia, aided us greatly in the past." She stated. "If anyone harms this girl, kill them"

"What did this Layla do for you that you would go so far for her daughter?" Toma asked curiously. "Very rare do you tell me to kill anyone who harms someone."

"The greatest sacrifice." Was all the floating woman said before turning and heading into a completely wooden room. "Are my orders understood?"

"Yes, Titania." Toma stated with a bow of his head. As Toma went about preparing his lunch for the next day as well as washing his face he noticed Titania's elegant arm appearing from the doorway before it curled its finger repeatedly signaling for him to follow after her. "So much for sleep." He muttered softly to himself as he followed her into the room.

* * *

End 

Alright there we go the first chapter of a new story. I hope you guys liked it. As always you may ask any questions about the chapter, and if I think I can answer you without ruining the story for you I'll answer them.

Alright here's a bit of trivia for any of you who didn't know:

**Titania is character in William Shakespeare's play ****A Midsummer Night's Dream****. In the play, she is the queen of the fairies. Due to Shakespeare's influence, later fiction has often used the name "Titania" for fairy queen characters.**

Taken from Wikipedia


	2. Enigma

Hey guys here we go with the second chapter of Sleeping Demon! I hope you all guys like this. Anyways, I plan to have TOMA interact with a multitude of Faye creatures I want to know what you guys consider to be beings that are relatively humanoid and could be considered under the domain of Fairy. Or maybe I should make Titania the queen of magical beasts? Anyways let me know in the reviews for this chapter.

I don't think I'll make each arc its own chapter, however smaller side stories will be their own chapters. While it's true I did imply a connection between Lucy and Toma near the end of the first chapter he won't be constantly at her side. He still has other things to attend to, both for the guild and for Titania.

Alright that's enough of boring things, let's get started.

* * *

Enigma

The morning after her acceptance into the guild Lucy was staring incredulously at Toma who was, once again, sleeping at one of the guild tables. "Does…he do this a lot?" she asked turning to Mirajane who had greeted her with a smile.

Smiling Mirajane nodded her head. "Yes, he comes in early morning and goes to sleep immediately." She explained as she cleaned up a couple of mugs in preparation for the day. "Seems like he has some noisy roommates or something that prevent him from sleeping, though he refuses to let anyone know where he lives."

"What do you mean by that?" Lucy asked turning to the barmaid with her full attention. "No one in the guild knows where he lives?" she continued thumbing over her shoulder at Toma.

"Ah you're talking about Toma are you?" Cana asked sitting down next to Lucy a mug of beer already in hand. "In the end we don't know much about him even though he's been with us for about two years."

"Isn't that strange?" Lucy asked staring at the brunette oddly. "How can no one know about him?" she asked casting her gaze at Toma who was sleeping with silent snores as his chest rose and fell with his breathing.

"Well I wouldn't say we don't know anything about him." Mirajane stated lightly. "We know his magic right?" she pointed out causing other two women to sigh.

"I guess, but how can anyone be so secretive about their own lives?" Lucy wondered aloud. "I mean doesn't that mean he's never taken the chance to befriend anyone in the guild?"

"Well you might be right about that." Cana stated as she glanced over her shoulder at the blonde. "He's always sleeping though, so it's kind of hard to get him to talk." She explained calmly before sighing.

"He get's angry when people wake him up right?" Lucy asked considering waking the sleeping blonde to ask her questions.

"Ah we say that, but he doesn't react too badly if it's one of the girls." Mirajane giggled a bit when she informed Lucy of that little tidbit.

"What do you mean?" Lucy looked a little confused as she questioned the white haired barmaid.

"Well watch." Mirajane suggested as she stepped out from behind the bar to approach the blonde "Toma wake up, I want to talk." She stated softly shaking the blonde's shoulder.

"Let me sleep." He moaned turning his head away from Mirajane. Mirajane placed her hands on her hips with a huff before shaking him again. "What?" he finally asked lifting his head off the table.

"See?" Mirajane asked turning back towards Lucy, "He just sounds upset when it's one of the girls."

"I see…" Lucy muttered as Toma sent Mirajane a small glare. "I was just wondering why none of us know anything about you." She stated looking at her fellow blonde.

"What's there to know?" Toma asked sighing in annoyance. "I can't tell you my name or something like that."

"Like where you live, or things you like, stuff like that." Lucy clarified as she sat down across from Toma.

"Tch, why do you want to know anyways?" he asked as he yawned loudly.

"I'm just curios" Lucy stated with a small smile.

"Right" Toma sounded unconvinced. "I live in my house." He began to say only for Lucy to frown as she interrupted him.

"I meant where is your house located?"

"The forest."

Lucy blinked in surprise hearing the simple response. "You live in the forest?" she questioned looking at him oddly. "Why don't you live in the city?"

"Too noisy in the city." He muttered with another yawn. "There are things I can only do in the forest." He continued seeing the questioning looks on their faces.

"What do you mean by that?" Cana asked sounding interested. "Maybe a secret lover?" she grinned deviously as she hid her smile behind her hand.

"Nothing of the sort." Toma muttered tiredly. "Leave me alone." He whined as he placed his head back on the table to sleep some more. "There's no point in me telling you about my stuff." He muttered quickly falling asleep again.

"How suspicious." Lucy muttered with narrowed eyes as the other guild members began trickling in causing a ruckus as usual.

"Hey Lucy how are you liking it here?" Natsu called out seeing the celestial spirit mage. "You sitting with Toma huh?" he asked seeing the blonde. He edged around him. "Scary."

"You've had some bad experience with him huh?" Lucy asked with a chuckle as she watched Natsu give the blonde male a wide berth.

"What makes you say that?" Natsu shouted angrily as he tried to cover up his embarrassment. "I'm not afraid of Toma!" he shouted slapping Toma on the back to prove his point.

Snapping his eyes open Toma shot his hand out and gripped Natsu's wrist in a vice. "Natsu…" he muttered as he slowly rose to his feet as his bangs covered his eyes. "I see you haven't learned from your past mistakes."

"I didn't mean anything by it!" Natsu shouted out as he tried to pry his wrist out of Toma's grip.

Toma didn't say anything as he stared down Natsu he began to quiver in fear. "Lessons must be taught." He muttered before beating Natsu into the ground. "Good riddance." He muttered sitting back down to go back to sleep.

"Oi, Natsu…" Gray muttered walking over to the group. "You woke him up again didn't you?" he asked causing the downed dragon slayer to groan in pain. "Really are you an idiot? You get goaded into waking him up at least once a week."

"Shut up!" Natsu managed to groan as he tried to pull himself to his feet. "I'm going to beat him up one of these days!"

"Sure you are, just like you'll beat Erza huh?" Gray countered causing Natsu to angrily shout at him.

"You shut up I'll definitely become stronger than them!" Natsu shouted causing Toma to stir which in turn caused Natsu to freeze in terror.

"Right…" Lucy muttered under her breath "You're not looking so convincing with that expression on your face." Natsu's ears reddened as he tried to look confident. "So does anyone know why he sleeps so much at the guild hall?"

"Isn't it because he ends up working on projects all night?" Gray wondered aloud.

"No way, this lazy ass?" Macao, a man with dark blue hair shouted as he and his friend Wakaba walked over to join them in the growing conversation. "He definitely sleeps here because he can't stand his nagging wife."

Wakaba frowned as he chewed on his pipe, his brown pompadour swaying slightly from the motion. "But he's a little young to be married isn't he?" he questioned trying to gauge Toma's age. "I'd say he sleeps because he can't get comfortable at his house or something like that."

"You're both wrong." The ever popular Loki announced walking over his eyes visible under his shades. "Isn't it obvious that he is tired from keeping a woman company all night?" he suggested causing more than a few blushes to form.

"What are you saying Loki!" Elfman shouted as he joined them. "Toma, must have trained himself to exhaustion, like a MAN!"

"Oh my, it seems you've stirred a hornet's nest Lucy." Mirajane stated with a giggle. As she sat with Lucy and Cana as everyone else began debating with each other over the reason for Toma's consistent sleeping in the guild hall.

"So Cana why do you think he sleeps all the time?" Lucy asked turning to the drinking woman who blinked in surprise as she set her mug down.

"What I think?" she asked placing a hand on her chin in thought. "Isn't it because he drank too much yesterday?" she asked looking at Toma again. "Then again he doesn't look hung over."

Lucy placed a finger on her chin in thought. "Well I guess that makes sense." She muttered quietly. "What about you Mirajane?"

"Me?" the barmaid asked inquisitively. "Hm…isn't it because he's sleepy?" she stated causing everyone to fall flat on their faces.

"We're trying to figure out why he's sleepy Mira-chan!" Wakaba shouted in exasperation. "We know he's sleepy, not why he's sleepy."

"Oh, is that what you meant." Mirajane muttered as she looked around nervously. "Then…wouldn't it be just because…he finds it comfortable here?"

"Well when you put it that way…" the other members muttered as they began thinking about it. "Maybe he really just likes it better in here?" some of them muttered as the excitement slowly began fading.

"You really know how to calm this guild down don't you Mira?" Cana asked with a laugh. "Maybe that's why Toma prefers sleeping near you?"

"Wait, he has preferences to where he sleeps in the guild hall?" Lucy asked with a shocked expression.

"I'm surprised no one else has noticed." Cana stated causing the others to share sheepish expressions. "I mean he always falls asleep at the table closest to the bar."

"Now that you mention it." Gray muttered as he began removing his clothing. "Doesn't he always sit with Erza when she's in?"

"When you say Erza you mean…" Lucy began to ask causing a small girl named Levi to pitch into the conversation

"Of course we mean Erza Scarlet!" she seemed really happy as she spoke.

"Wow, so even the famous Titania is friendly with him?" Lucy asked with wide eyes.

"Well that's one way of thinking about it." Mirajane conceded. "It's honestly more like he uses the guild's fear of her to get some peace and quiet."

"Oh…" Lucy muttered as her enthusiasm waned. "He's really into sleeping isn't he?" she wondered aloud as the subject of the entire debate continued sleeping soundly "He…really is a heavy sleeper isn't he?"

Natsu laughed as he joined her at the table. "That's why we risk waking him up all the time, it is funny seeing him sleep through everything."

"Aye!" Happy agreed raising his paw. "Toma can sleep through anything!"

Lucy nodded in understanding. "Wait how often does he go on jobs then?" she asked looking at the blonde oddly. "I mean he shouldn't have much of a reputation if all he does is sleep."

"That's the weird thing." Cana suddenly stated catching Lucy's attention. "Sometimes he'll just randomly wake up and grab a request of the board." She began before taking another gulp of beer. Sighing in satisfaction she continued. "Even if it's really simple he'll be gone for weeks or even months and when he comes back he reports the mission before going home."

"Didn't you go on a job with him once Cana?" Gray asked with a black eye as someone had decked him for walking around without his pants. Luckily he had managed to find his pants before rejoining the conversation. "What's he like, I've never worked with him before."

Cana sighed as she thought about her job with Toma. "He doesn't talk much." She admitted with a shrug. "We headed straight to the job site, completed the request, and came straight back."

"So basically he gets things done as fast as possible?" Levi questioned with great interest. "That sounds like him." She mumbled softly as a soft smile appeared on her face.

"Hm?" Lucy muttered having heard Levi. "Wait do you know Toma somehow?" she asked looking at Levi with interest.

"No…I don't think so anyways." Levi admitted softly as the guild became silent. "When I was little…bad people attacked my village…" she clenched her fist as the memories came back to her mind. "Anyways!" she shouted shaking her head. "I was saved by a man in a white cloak who used a long sword and two hidden blades in his wrist guards." Levi blushed a little bit as she remembered the man's image in her mind. "He didn't say anything, but quickly defeated the bad guys and left the village soon after."

"So that's what you meant." Her teammates, Jet and Droy, muttered as they looked at them. "You're saying Toma reminds you of this guy?" they asked looking at the blonde in suspicion.

"Just a little." Levi admitted with a small blush on her face.

"This punk stealing our Levy-chan's affection!" the two male members of Team Shadow Gear shouted as they grabbed Toma's shoulders intending to toss him into other members of the guild.

Before they could however, Toma simply slipped through their grip before knocking both men onto their backsides. "Just what are you two doing?" he asked looking down at Jet and Droy.

"You punk stealing our Levy-chan's heart!" Droy shouted angrily causing Toma to raise an eyebrow in response.

"It's not like that!" Levy shouted out catching the blonde's attention "I just mentioned that you remind me of someone who saved me when I was younger." She informed him. "Jet and Droy are just blowing things out of proportion." She explained.

"I see…" Toma muttered as he silently smacked both men over the head. "You two are idiots." He muttered in annoyance. "I'm trying to sleep here and you guys go and grab me waking me up!"

"Hey Toma, is there anything you can tell us about yourself?" Lucy asked seeing another chance to talk to the enigmatic blonde. "I really think it's weird that no one in the guild knows much about you."

"What like favorite food?" the blonde male asked as he rubbed his head tiredly. "Well if you really want to know, my favorite food is ramen." He muttered before stretching his hands above his head. "So why does everyone suddenly want to know more about me?"

"We don't know anything about you!" someone called out from the guild. "It's like we're not even comrades!"

"That's fine by me." Toma stated calmly. "It's better if I work alone anyways." His statement was met with worried murmurs as they regarded him carefully. "For my sake, and yours I work alone."

"Come on, that's a little harsh." Lucy muttered trying to calm things down. "But isn't the guild all about being like a family?" she asked getting many nods in approval.

"Things like that don't matter to me." Toma muttered simply as he looked around. "Everyone can do their own things, but I do things faster on my own." With that said he sat back down and went to sleep.

"That attitude pisses me off!" Natsu shouted ready to start a fight. "I'll show you punk!" he shouted charging at Naruto his fists ablaze.

Before anything could be done to stop him Toma disappeared just as Natsu's fist shot out to strike him. "You've grown bold." Toma muttered as he appeared behind Natsu and grabbed his head in a vice like grip. "I guess a demonstration is in order." He muttered softly before driving Natsu's head into the ground.

"Oi, he took Natsu out instantly." Wakaba muttered as they all regarded Toma with caution.

"If you guys have a problem with me keeping to myself; here's your chance! I don't mind teaching your bodies why I work alone!" he announced

"Oi I can't let that one slide!" Gray shouted as he began preparing himself. "We'll make you acknowledge us!" There were many shouts of agreement as the other guild members shouted their agreement as they all charged at Toma.

What happened next however, would be burned into Lucy's eyes "What insane power." She muttered with wide eyes

"Wow…Toma really is strong isn't he?" Levi asked with a wince as she viewed the results of the one versus all.

Toma huffed in annoyance as he sat on a groaning pile of bodies. "Now do you get why I prefer to work alone?" he asked patting the back of the person at the top of the pile. "You'd only slow me down." The groans of pain and defeat were the only sounds to reach his ears. "I take that as a yes."

"Really, a one man army." Mirajane muttered worried that the guild wouldn't be able to afford new tables in chairs considering how fast they went through them.

"What's going on here?" A new voice shouted out revealing Makarov who had been busy with tasks within the town. "I don't show up for one day and the place goes to hell!" he shouted angrily seeing all the damage caused by the fight.

"Well, they wanted to fight me." Toma explained simply catching the Master's eye.

"These idiots." Makarov muttered as he palmed his face. "At this rate we really will be shut down for all the property damage we cause." He muttered earning a sympathetic look from the blonde male.

Suddenly Toma froze for only a second, but Makarov saw it. "Hm…I guess I'll take a job since I've woken up and warmed up." Makarov narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Why the sudden change of mind?" Makarov questioned innocently. "You normally don't take jobs randomly."

"I don't?" Toma questioned curiously. "Hm, well in any case call it a whim." He stated as he hopped off the pile of groaning bodies and walked over to the request board. "This one will do." He muttered softly as he grabbed a simple delivery quest to Acalypha Town. "Mirajane I'll take this one." He stated showing her the request.

"Right, give me a second." She stated pulling out the log book as Lucy tore her gaze away from the pile of bodies to look at the request. "That town…" she muttered seeing it. "Hey can I come with you?" she asked looking at Toma hopefully.

"I work best alone." Toma stated in refusal. "I think you should form a team with someone else."

"Why can't I come with you?" Lucy asked in frustration. "I want to check out the merchant guild down there." She explained. "My parents met each other there."

Conflicted Toma looked away from her. "All the same I believe I should do this on my own." He stated. "I'll be able to complete the request faster without having to slow down for other people."

"That said, even though you finish your jobs quickly it still takes you weeks, or even months to come home." Makarov stated with a suspicious stare.

"I have other matters to attend to that come up during the mission, therefore I end up taking more time than necessary." Toma explained simply. "My reasoning for this is that I also have some errands to run near Acalypha town."

"I see." Lucy sounded saddened by his flat refusal to take her along with him.

"Toma just take Lucy with you, she can use the experience." Makarov ordered causing the blonde to frown.

"Master I'd rather not."

"This isn't up for debate." Toma looked annoyed as he sighed before running a hand through his hair.

"Alright, we leave in an hour, get whatever you need for the travel time." He stated looking sternly at Lucy. "I'll meet you at the west entrance of the town." His piece said he left the building leaving Lucy with the rest of the guild.

"Lucy, there's something I need you to do." Makarov stated catching the celestial spirit mage's attention. "Don't lose track of him, I'm worried about what he does after he finishes his missions."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked suddenly nervous.

"I've kept track of every mission Toma has ever taken." Makarov declared softly. "Each time after he finished a headliner would appear in the papers. Sometimes the revealing of misuse of magic, other times the murder of corrupt officials." He paused letting his words sink in as the guild remained silent. "I'm not the only one who's noticed either, the council has been pressuring me to turn the boy in. I want you to get proof that he's not involved so we can get them off our backs."

"I see…" she muttered suddenly very nervous. "And if he is involved?" she asked scared of the answer she might receive.

"If he is involved…we'll have to expel him from the guild." Makarov explained simply. "As a legal guild we can't harbor anyone who would end the life of another regardless of their reasoning."

"I understand." Lucy muttered softly as she looked around trying to gather her courage. "I'll do my best." She stated before heading out to get ready.

"Are you sure we should have her do this Master?" Gray asked looking at their master in concern.

"We need to know what's going on soon." Makarov explained while gritting his teeth. "We have to discover what Toma is doing if he's not doing the mission. I could never live with myself if we were letting a criminal stay here."

"Isn't that too distrustful?" Levi questioned worriedly.

"He's too suspicious." Makarov stated. "The times he's not here in the guild and not on a mission are too level with the times of these incidents." He clenched and unclenched his hands. "We have to know."

Natsu growled. "I'm going with them, if he is a bad guy we can't let Lucy be near him on her own!" he shouted angrily "Why didn't we try to find out about Toma sooner?"

"We couldn't be sure, the incidents are usually a long distance away from his requests." Makarov explained simply. "But that doesn't change the fact that they all happened after he finished his missions but before he came back."

"Geez, I hope it was nothing more than coincidence." Macao muttered as he rubbed his head tiredly.

"So do I, Macao." Makarov muttered sadly as he sighed heavily. "I really don't want another situation like Ivan's." with that solemn thought the guild noiselessly went about their own business.

* * *

End 

Well there we go! I was originally not planning to do something like this so soon, but the opportunity presented itself to me and I took it. Anyways now I got to think about how I'm going to do this (yay fun)

As always feel free to ask questions and I'll try to answer them if they don't spoil the story.


End file.
